Times Chronicle & Public Spirit
UDJAA league’s a great HXSHULHNFH
While the summer season at Upper Dublin High School is generally reserved to the Fort Washington baseball team – the Lower Montco American Legion champion for each of the past four years – another group of young athletes competing for their own respective title were showcased last week.
Last Thursday, inside the gym at the high school, the Upper Dublin Junior Athletic Association (UDJAA) hosted the 2012 Summer Basketball League Championships, where boys and girls from local middle and junior high schools competed for various championship divisions.
Teams from Upper Dublin, St. Alphonsus, Whitemarsh, Horsham, Whitpain, Montgomery Township and Huntingdon Valley/Glenside all took part in the championships, which featured divisions includLnJ fiIWK DnG VLxWK JUDGH ERyV, fiIWK DnG VLxWK JUDGH girls, seventh and eighth grade boys, and seventh and eighth grade boys.
“It was absolutely a success,” said Steve Hirshenhorn, one of the directors of the UDJAA. “The kids create the drama and it’s as good as entertainment as you pay for. The games were competitive and the kids all have the bench demeanor to make it fun and competitive and a learning HxSHULHnFH.”
In a league which lasted roughly 10 weeks, and FRnVLVWHG RI 550 NLGV, 25 VWuGHnW-UHIHUHHV, DnRWKHU 25 RIfiFLDOV Rn WKH WDEOH VWDII, DnG 40 WHDPV SDUWLFLSDWLnJ, LW FDPH GRwn WR HLJKW finDO teams last Thursday, with rosters ranging between eight and 12 players on each squad.
7KH fiIWK DnG VLxWK JUDGH girls’ division winner was Montgomery Township, coached by Joe Senour, wKLOH WKH fiIWK DnG VLxWK grade boys’ winner was Whitpain, coached by Jim Brown. The seventh and eighth grade girls’ winner was Whitemarsh, coached by Mike Celano, while the seventh and eighth grade boys’ winner was Huntingdon Valley, coached by David Levy.
Levy, who now holds an RYHUDOO UHFRUG RI 35-5 Ln four years with his current team in the UDJAA-run league, has now coached his team to three champion